County taxes expected to go up one penny

Commissioners’ debate over the county’s budget may be drawing to a conclusion.

Most county commissioners gained consensus Friday on a 1-cent property tax increase and an appropriated fund balance of about $500,000 to meet departmental requests for equipment upgrades and personnel additions.

If it stands, the property tax increase would be Vance County’s first rate change since 2008-2009, when it dropped from 79.8 cents per $100 valuation to the current 78.2 cents. In 2007-2008, it was 92 cents per $100 valuation. Property revaluations last took place in 2008 and come again in 2016.

The last time commissioners passed a budget that raised the property tax was nine years ago, for the 2005-2006 budget, when it went from 90 cents per $100 valuation to 92 cents.

In Friday afternoon’s budget work session, the board heard county manager Jerry Ayscue’s revisions on the budget.

He and staff decreased the budget by $1.4 million as the commissioners asked by pulling out departmental requests for additional funds for office supplies, capital outlay and maintenance needs.

Ayscue said the board could add back pressing items by denoting about $300,000 to the fund balance and approving a 1.3-cent tax increase.

The extra revenue would pay for:

• Salary adjustments for county employees, including an $804 increase to the base salaries and 35-cent increase to hourly pay. The overall pay plan would increase by 1.5 percent.

• Health insurance premiums for county employees, which would increase by 4.53 percent next year.

• Additional positions in Social Services and Emergency Communications departments, the senior center, Planning and Development and the Vance County Cooperative Extension.

• Primary control of the Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Department with the switch in operational management from 45 percent to 55 percent.

• Radios, Tasers and an animal control box for Animal Control.

• Additional security at Vance-Granville Community College.

• Radio upgrades and two sets of turnout gear for the fire department.

• A typewriter for the Register of Deeds.

Ayscue said funding these requests added an additional $600,000 to the staff’s flat budget.

The board battled for hours over whether to keep Ayscue’s suggested tax increase or apply it all to the fund balance.

Commissioner Dan Brummitt said the county did not have the money to do that, and should cut the extra budget items.